Catchers Mask Black

Catchers Mask Black

Baseball was developed before the Civil War but did not achieve professional status until the 1870s. The first professional team was established in 1869 - The Cincinnati Red Stockings. However, they did not have a long career, going bankrupt in just one year.

In 1871 the National Association of Professional Baseball Players was formed and eventually consisted of thirteen teams. Unfortunately it too suffered financial difficulties and was disbanded in 1875.

The very next year the National League of Professional Baseball Players was founded with the American League following behind it in 1884 and thus the era of modern professional baseball had begun.

In the early days of baseball, players were expected to take the field without the use of protective equipment such as a catcher's mask or baseball gloves. Players were to endure the pain of the sport without complaint. Any effort to minimize the injuries of the game was looked upon as a sissified attempt to demean the sport.

A.G. Spalding played baseball throughout his youth. He first played competitively with the Rockford Pioneers, a youth team, in 1865. After pitching his team to a 26-2 victory over a local men's amateur team -the Mercantiles, he was approached by the Forest Citys, for whom he played for two years. Following the formation of the National Association Spalding joined the Boston Red Stockings and was highly successful; winning 205 games and losing only 53 as a pitcher and batting.323 as a hitter.

Spalding and several other players were then lured from Boston to become the heart of the National League Chicago White Stockings (known today as the Cubs) in 1876. On Opening Day, April 25, 1876, Spalding pitched the NL's initial shutout (the first of his eight that year), and had three hits in Chicago's 4-0 win over Louisville.Spalding was the premier pitcher of his day until the physical strain of pitching every game, all game took its toll and ruined his throwing arm.

After his baseball career he and his brother founded a sporting goods company in Chicago, obtaining the rights to produce the official National League ball. Initially specializing in baseball equipment they quickly expanding to equipment for all types of sports. He continued his involvement with baseball and served as president of the Chicago team and one of baseball's most successful promoters. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in its first year. Spalding's Hall of Fame plaque acclaimed him as the "organizational genius of baseball's pioneer days"

In 1911, Spalding wrote of his experiences in early baseball and describes his first introduction to the baseball glove:

"The first glove I ever saw on the hand of a ball player in a game was worn by Charles C. Waite, in Boston, in 1875. He had come from New Haven and was playing at first base. The glove worn by him was of flesh color, with a large, round opening in the back. Now, I had for a good while felt the need of some sort of hand protection for myself. In those days clubs did not carry an extra carload of pitchers, as now. For several years I had pitched in every game played by the Boston team, and had developed severe bruises on the inside of my left hand. When it is recalled that every ball pitched had to be returned, and that every swift one coming my way, from infielders, outfielders or hot from the bat, must be caught and stopped, some idea may be gained of the punishment received. team, and had developed severe bruises on the inside of my left hand. When it is recalled that every ball pitched had to be returned, and that every swift one coming my way, from infielders, outfielders or hot from the bat, must be caught or stopped, some idea may be gained of the punishment received."

Therefore, I asked Waite about his glove. He confessed that he was a bit ashamed to wear it, but had it on to save his hand. He also admitted that he had chosen a color as inconspicuous as possible, because he didn't care to attract attention. He added that the opening on the back was for purpose of ventilation.

Meanwhile my own hand continued to take its medicine with utmost regularity, occasionally being bored with a warm twister that hurt excruciatingly. Still, it was not until 1877 that I overcame my scruples against joining the 'kid-glove aristocracy' by donning a glove. When I did at last decide to do so, I did not select a flesh-colored glove, but got a black one, and cut out as much of the back as possible to let the air in.

Happily, in my case, the presence of a glove did not call out the ridicule that had greeted Waite. I had been playing so long and had become so well known that the innovation seemed rather to evoke sympathy than hilarity. I found that the glove, thin as it was, helped considerably, and inserted one pad after another until a good deal of relief was afforded. If anyone wore a padded glove before this date I do not know it. The 'pillow mitt' was a later innovation."

References:

Spalding, Albert G., America's National Game (1911); Wallop, Douglass, Baseball; an Informal History (1969). Ward, Geoffrey C., Baseball: an Illustrated History (1994).

As an avid baseball (and softball) fan I have spent a great deal of time at the baseball field watching my son and two daughters play their hearts out. This has led to a desire to learn more about the history of the game.

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